The Abilene reflector. [volume] (Abilene, Kan.) 1883-1888, 1887-12-01
NAMES TRAPPERS.
Daring Hunters Who Do Not Use Liquor
and Never Lie.


IN furs and skins, ''but the meekest and
mildest men l ever came in contact
with are the hunters and trappers OF
the Maine woods. / meet scores OF
them every season, and have for years,
for pay from $4,000 to $4,000 fol-
furs and skins in Maine annually, and
! two-thirds of them obtain direct from
the hands of the trappers. can't un-
derstand how it is that they are so meek
and mild. for you would hardly expect
to find such characteristics among men
who spend three-quarters of their lives
in the deepest wilderness, living vir-
tually like savages. They live &C fat
pork. game and fish. Every thing
they cook, from the daintiest trout
or bird to the finest kind of wild
meat, seems to be used simply as
something to give different flavor to the
pork, for that always goes into the dish
in much larger proportion than does
the morsel which the novice would
naturally think would be the choice
portion of the meal. The diet of these
rugged woodsmen certainly does not
/ tend to make them gentle. and so can
account for their popularity only by
the fact which struck me as the strang-
est and most incredible thing yet-they
don't drink. 1t is well known that no
hunter or tI'apper in the comparatively
! tame regions of New York and Penn
sylvania ever think of venturing into
the woods distance of five miles from
home without capacious flask of some
kind of liquor to protect him from the
cold. But no stimulant stronger than
coffee-and much of that made out of
burnt beans-is carried by Maine
hunters and trappers, although they
plunge into a wilderness that is a
wilderness, fifty miles or more from
home, to be gone weeks at 4 time, in
weather the rigors of which are I'M
known to our backwoodsmen.
I'm all my communication with these
men, in their forest camps and at their
home fresides, l have met very few
who accepted my invitation to take Il
drink from my flask, and they were all
old-timers. On my first trip to tho
Maine woods passed my bottle around
in a cabin where half dozen Young
trappers were cOngregated. Only one
of them accepted my invitation to have
something. and he evidently did it out
of courtesy, and. l have no doubt, i'm
mediately regretted his politeness. He
took but one swallow, and at once be-
gan to gasp and strangle, although the
liquor WAS the best old rye whisky that
ever man put his lips to. The water
ran out of the unsophisticated young
woodlands eyes in II stream, and when
he recovered his breath so that he could
speak, he handed the flask back and
thanked me, and said he didn't care for
any more. 1t was his first, and dare
say his last. taste of intoxicating liquor.
II notice still another and very sur
prising popularity of the Maine trap
peers and hunters, one for which our
home Nimrods are by no means noted,
This was their indispositiOn, as a class.
to dilate upon individual power in the
chase, or to tax the credulity, if not the
patience. of the listener with tales of
hair-breaGth escapes from wild beasts
after terrible hand to hand cOmbats.
But they have their many adventures,
as every one must know who is aware
of the life they lead. 1 see many an
ugly scar on hunters l meet in the
Maine woods, and know of many sug-
costing trophy in their possession which
in themselves are eloquent Of some
perils escaped and fierce beasts over
come. 1t is only by tact, skillful in
quiry and suggestion that now and then
some narrative is obtained.
1.-The trapping grounds of Maine, like
the numbering regions, are rapidly mar
rowing down to small dimensions. and
every year the trappel- are compelled
to go further and further away. They
start Tor the woods early in tho
fall, loaded down with their traps
and guns, and lose no time from
that on till the deep SHOWS and
heavy ice drive their game into
winter quarters or make trapping next
to impossible. The headwaters of the
Androscoggin, the Penobscot, the Ken
nebec. the Passadumkeag and the st.
John, and the wild regions drained by
their numerous tributaries. are now the
chief sources of supply in Maine. Dead
river, Magolloway and Grand lake are
notable centers from which the trappers
start out. The furs are purchased prin-
cipally in Lewiston. Brewer. Auburn
and other large places. and buyers are
constantly travelling through the back
woods region gathering up pelts. The
trappers, as a general thing. though.
prefer to have a regular customer in
some one large company, stationed in
one of the large towns. to whom they
can forward the result of their seasons
work in bulk, and receive the market
price without being subjected to the
and sharp dealing of the
travelling buyers. Limited as the fur
bearing territory of Maine has become.
her trappers reap an annual harvest
from their work of abou: 5000, 900. IN.
Y Nail and Express.
About an Even Thing.